PawnSac: <drleper: <PawnSac> That's the way the computer goes, >ummm.. ok, i'll take your word for it. I did not consult a computer.. I'm like Ian and Nigel; i prefer to do analysis and commentary without consulting engines. It's more fun and challenging, AND it's the way we play OTB.
< Or you could walk the king over with 70.♖e6+ ♔d8 71.♕e7+ etc.>
70.Re6+?? Well.. 68. g8=Q d1=Q 69. Re6+ Kd7 70. Qe8+ Kc7 71. Rc6+ Kb7 72. Qc8+ Ka7 73. Ra6# also mates in the same number of moves, and is the mirror image pattern to the line i gave. I assume this is what you meant, but got the move numbers mixed up (?).
< ..but to me even easier is just 69.♕g7+ ♔e8 70.♖a8+ with no calculation required. >
Your idea 68. g8=Q d1=Q 69. Qg7+ Ke8 70. Ra8+ certainly wins, as Qd8 71. Rxd8+ Kxd8 72. h7 Rxh7 73. Qxh7 with mate in 4, or 71.Qg8+ and Qxd8+ also wins with eventual mate, but both lines take many more moves.
To be sure there are multiple paths to win, and the way one most easily visualizes it is typically how he plays it OTB. And that's fine. The line i gave also doesn't really require any real analysis, its just pattern recognition. But taking the easy (or lazy) path to victory can often result in a surprizing turn for the worse. It is said that one of the most difficult things to do is win a won game, and this is largely because once we achieve what seems to be sufficient material to win easily, there is a tendency to relax, and rather than press to the end with precision, we stop "working" at the position, and with disasterous results.
Besides, there's the philosophical side to the play...
In a gun fight, you can fill your enemy with holes until he finally falls over and bleeds out, or you can finish it with a precise and lethal shot. Likewise, in chess, the shortest path to mate is generally considered the most humane and masterly.
Beginners and amateurs typically start capturing all the opponents pieces, and will obviously and eventually win with overwhelming material as they finally maul the loser to death, but you will find in GM games that the superior player often forgoes the capture of material in preference to a paralyzing and winning tactic, and when confronted with multiple mating options of equal length, will often choose the one that does not capture the heavy material, thus humiliating the defender, but will choose the option that mates DESPITE the presence of heavy material! That one is often the more esthetically pleasing, and demonstrates greater tactical superiority.
Kibitzing
